Do you own your website? Crazy question, right? I'm serious. Do you own your website? You do, right? Are you sure?

In the past month I have worked with two clients who do not have the ability to log into their website. They paid an outside source to develop and launch their website and once completed never had the login credentials shared with them. I thought this was possibly an unusual situation....until I realized it is not. Recently, on a large business FB page I belong to, someone posted about this very thing. She paid someone to develop and launch her website. They never gave her the login information and poof, her website and the company are gone.

How do you protect yourself from this sort of practice?

Read the fine print. Yes. When you sign a contract or even just exchange emails regarding the scope of work, read, read, read. And, keep the documents where you can easily access them if issues arise.

Let the developer know up front that you want all login credentials to your site and domain name immediately.

At the end of the project, go into your site and change the login password so that only you can login. If and when changes need to be made you can share the login information with your developer.

Following these steps will not only protect your website, it protects your business and your domain name. Imagine owning the domain name that matches your business (ex. www.angelsamongus.com) and suddenly, your domain (along with your website) are gone or not accessible to you. What then? Pay an enormous fee to get your domain name back? Change your business name? Choose another domain name that does not match your branding?

Be smart when launching. Use the steps outlined above and share your story with the world!

The past few weeks I've been busy building my new website, migrating my blog, meeting the needs of new customers that are using my services and living life in all other
respects. I, like many others, ran into a brick wall last Friday in the wake of the ISIS attacks on Paris following a series of other attacks around the globe including Beirut and a Russian airliner. It was Friday night and I was taking the Sun and two of his friends to a dinner and bonfire held by one of their prospective high schools. We had just dropped the Moon at the gym and I checked my texts before we got back on the road. My circle of moms texting support group had been frantically texting about the attack. I quickly turned on NPR, hushed the boys and for the next 30 minutes listened to reports while on the road.

My own feelings toward what is happening in the world and how we should handle it are quite mixed. Recent attacks combined with friends working in some of the Tennessee's Muslim immigrant community sharing alarming stories with me bring so many concerns to mind that I cannot even sort through the competing thoughts and feelings that I have. But, in the midst of it all is the knowledge that some of our friends are Muslim. In fact, one of my closest friends - an American by birth, is Muslim and her children are among my children's BFF's. Not only are they close friends, they are the only family outside of our own family that we will allow our daughter to stay overnight with and at one time that was also true for our son.

Knowing what I know of this family, I cannot condemn them or associate them with extremist attacks happening. They are not refugees. But, they are representative of many millions of Muslims who do not stand with extremists. I don't know that my own internal struggle will end anytime soon, but I do know that many Muslims do not stand with ISIS. I hope you know it too.

Meet Dana

I’m Dana Croy and I am a modern day mama. Balancing family and work is not always easy (not to mention a little self-care). Though being Mama to two fantastic kiddos is a huge part of my life, that was not always the case. I wear many other hats and invite to sit down and find harmony with me.